Transmitter power management mechanisms and related methods of operation

Abstract

Circuits and methods for operating a transmitter in a communication system are disclosed. The transmitter analyzes a power level and one or more real-time transmission conditions associated with signal transmission. Based on the power level and the one or more real-time transmission conditions, the communication system selects between a low power circuit and a high power circuit to process the signal for transmission.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 047,766, filed July 2, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This application relates to the field of communications, specifically to a wireless communication method and device. Background Technology

[0004] The rapid growth of computing technology is creating greater demand for data communications. This increasing demand, in turn, drives further development of communication technologies, often requiring additional functionality, processing power, and / or resources within a given space. This growth typically brings new challenges. For example, increased processing speeds and / or the amount of data communicated between devices (e.g., to / from user equipment (UE)) increase power consumption associated with internal data processing, such as to accommodate rapid data signal transitions. Attached Figure Description

[0005] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this embodiment, the accompanying drawings are briefly described below. The drawings only show some aspects or embodiments of this technology; those skilled in the art can derive other drawings from these drawings without creative effort.

[0006] Figure 1 This is a diagram of a wireless communication system according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0007] Figure 2 This is a block diagram of a mobile communication device according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0008] Figures 3A-3B This is a block diagram of an example transmission circuit according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0009] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of an example method according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0010] Figure 5 This is a schematic block diagram of a terminal device according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0011] Figure 6 This is a schematic block diagram of a system chip according to one or more embodiments of the present technology.

[0012] Figure 7 This is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to one or more embodiments of the present technology. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The technical solution in one or more embodiments of the technology is explained below. The communication system includes circuitry and / or software that utilizes real-time signal quality and channel conditions to determine optimal power consumption modes.

[0014] Modern communication devices (e.g., cellular phones) operate in a wide range of use cases and modulation schemes. Fifth generation (5G) protocols push for ever-increasing data rates, but at the cost of higher power consumption due to stringent requirements on radio frequency (RF) transmitter performance. For example, some conventional transceivers switch between high and low power modes according to worst-case peak power, such as according to output power or peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of a waveform. This limitation on power is often related to inherent difficulties associated with designing linear amplifiers to operate efficiently in the case of large power backoff.

[0015] One or more embodiments of the technology use new and / or additional aspects of the communication environment to control the amount of power and / or performance level related to transmission processing. As described in detail below, a transmitter can select a low-power transmitter circuit that consumes less power than a high-power circuit according to real-time communication conditions. For example, one or more embodiments of the technology can use a modulation order instead of and / or in addition to PAPR to optimize the operating power level of the transmitter. Additionally or alternatively, the transmitter can optimize according to a particular frequency band and / or a channel bandwidth based on a target bandwidth (e.g., a bandwidth with relaxed transmission requirements for limiting / constraining the transmitted signal from interfering with other frequency bands and / or limiting / constraining the power level in the transmitted signal). Thus, as the modulation order increases, the transmitter can dynamically adjust power consumption instead of operating according to a fixed worst-case / waveform. The additional parameters provide increased frequency-based granularity in selecting low-power operation, which reduces overall power consumption. The reduced power consumption further provides longer battery life for the device. For example, when the transmitter needs to transmit a conventional low-order modulation, the battery life is not compromised. The maximum power and highest performance mode will only be reserved for cases where the network requires it.

[0016] Further, power consumption can be controlled across different bands so as not to adversely impact power consumption for all bands to accommodate certain bands with strict coexistence requirements. As an illustrative example, LTE band B1 and NR band nl require a UE to meet a transmit limit of -50 dBm / 1 MHz for a transmit antenna in the B34 frequency range of 2010-2025 MHz. Further, LTE band B13 requires a UE to meet a transmit limit of -57 dBm / 6.25 kHz when the network signals "NS_07" in the frequency range of 769-775 MHz. The UE does not have such strict transmit requirements when transmitting signals in other bands (e.g., outside of B1 and B13). As such, the UE can control power consumption / usage based on the transmission band and reduce power consumption for less strict transmission bands.

[0017] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the current description. In other implementations, the technology presented herein can be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known features have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the technology.

[0018] For the sake of clarity, in the following description, several details of the structure and process are not set forth in order to not unnecessarily obscure the important aspects of the disclosed technology. In addition, while the following description sets forth various embodiments of the present technology, this description is not intended as identifying key to the technology. Accordingly, the technology disclosed can have other embodiments with additional or different components, or without some of the components illustrated in the following description.

[0019] Many embodiments or aspects of the technology described below can take the form of computer or processor executable instructions, including routines that are executed on a programmable computer or processor. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the technology described can be practiced on computer or processor systems other than those shown and described below. The technology described herein can be implemented in a special purpose computer or data processor that is specifically programmed, configured, or constructed to perform one or more of the computer executable instructions described below. Accordingly, the terms "computer" and "processor" as generally used herein refer to any data processor. The information processed by these computers and processors can be presented on any suitable display medium, including a liquid crystal display (LCD). The instructions for performing the computer or processor executable tasks can be stored in any suitable computer readable medium, including one or more hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and firmware. The instructions can be included in any suitable storage device, including, for example, a flash drive and / or other suitable media.

[0020] The terms "coupled" and "connected," along with their derivatives, can be used herein to describe structural relationships between components. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, "connected" can be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. Unless otherwise stated, the term "coupled" can be used to indicate that two or more elements are in either direct or indirect (with other intervening elements between them) contact with each other, or that the two or more elements co-operate or interact with each other (for example, as in a cause an effect relationship, such as in a signal transmitter / receiver relationship or in a function call), or both. The term "and / or" in this description is only a descriptive representation of the association relationship between associated objects, and indicates that there can be three relationships, for example, A and / or B can indicate the following three cases: A exists alone, A and B both exist, B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this description generally represents an "or" relationship between associated objects.

[0021] Applicable Environment

[0022] Figure 1 is a diagram of a wireless communication system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology. As Figure 1As shown, the wireless communication system 100 can include a network device 110. The network device 110 can include circuitry configured to provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. Some examples of the network device 110 can include a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a base station (NodeB, NB), an evolved NodeB (eNB or eNodeB), a next generation base station (gNB or gNode B), a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) access point (AP). Other examples of the network device 110 can include a relay station, an access point, a vehicle mounted device, a wearable device, etc. The network device 110 can include other wireless connection devices for a communication network, such as a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) network, an LTE network, a Cloud Radio Access Network (CRAN), an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 based network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network), an loT network, a Device-to-Device (D2D) network, a next generation network (e.g., a 5G network), a future evolved Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), etc. Optionally, a 5G system or network can also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) system or network.

[0023] Additionally or alternatively, the wireless communication system 100 can include a terminal device 120. The terminal device 120 can be a terminal user equipment configured to facilitate wireless communication. The terminal device 120 can be configured to wirelessly connect to the network device 110 (e.g., over the wireless channel 115) according to one or more corresponding communication protocols / standards. The terminal device 120 can be mobile or stationary. The terminal device 120 can be an access terminal, a UE, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile site, a mobile station, a remote station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user device. Some examples of the terminal device 120 can include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a handheld device having wireless communication functionality, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle mounted device, a wearable device, an loT device, a terminal device in a future 5G network, a terminal device for a future evolved PLMN, etc.

[0024] For illustration purposes, Figure 1A wireless communication system 100 is shown via a network device 110 and a terminal device 120. However, it should be appreciated that the wireless communication system 100 can include additional / other devices, such as additional instances of the network device 110 and / or the terminal device 120, a network controller, a mobility management entity, etc.

[0025] Wireless Communication Architecture

[0026] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device 200 (e.g., a terminal device 120, a network device 110, and / or a portion thereof) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present technology. The mobile communication device 200 can include circuitry configured to communicate wireless signals with another device. For example, the terminal device 120 (e.g., a UE) can include the mobile communication device 200 configured to interact wireless signals with the network device 110 and / or other wirelessly coupled devices. In some embodiments, the mobile communication device 200 can be configured to communicate in accordance with a fourth generation (4G) standard, a 5G standard, an 802.11 standard, and / or other new radio standards. The mobile communication device 200 can further be backwards compatible and support one or more previous or older communication standards / protocols (e.g., third generation (3G)). Figure 1 Figure 1

[0027] The mobile communication device 200 can include an antenna group 202 including a set of transmit and / or receive antennas. The antenna group 202 can be configured to interact wireless signals with a corresponding device utilizing one or more antennas. In some embodiments, the antenna group 202 can be coupled to a front-end module (FEM) 204 configured to condition received / output signals. For example, the FEM 204 can include a set of frequency-based filters, such as a set of bandpass filters, configured to isolate particular frequency ranges used or targeted by the technology, standards, and / or context related to a communication session.

[0028] The mobile communication device 200 can include a transceiver 206 coupled to the antenna group 202. The transceiver 206 can be part of an RF front-end (RFFE) chip and include circuitry configured to process various components of wireless signals. For example, the transceiver 206 can include a receive path 212 and a transmit path 214.

[0029] ​​The receive path 212 can include circuitry configured to receive a communication signal from another device. In some implementations, the receive path 212 can include an amplifier (e.g., a low-noise amplifier (LNA)), a frequency down-converter, one or more filters (e.g., a low-pass filter), a sampling circuit (e.g., an analog-to-digital (A / D) converter), or a combination thereof. For example, the receive path 212 can use an amplifier to control the power in a received signal 232 (e.g., an output from one or more receive antennas). A frequency down-converter (represented by a mixer / multiplier and a receive local oscillator (RXLO) in Figure 2 The down-converted signal can be filtered (e.g., by a low-pass filter to remove high-frequency noise) and sampled to generate a digital stream 242 of received baseband data. The received baseband data 242 can be provided to the signal processing circuitry 208, which can be configured to recover content according to one or more predetermined processes (e.g., detection, decoding, interleaving, etc.).

[0030] The transmit path 214 can include circuitry configured to transmit a communication signal to another device. In some implementations, the transmit path 214 can include a signal generator (e.g., a digital-to-analog (D / A) converter), one or more filters (e.g., high-pass and / or band-pass filters), a frequency up-converter, an amplifier, or a combination thereof. For example, the transmit path can receive a digital stream of transmit baseband data 244, which includes message content processed by the signal processing circuitry 208 (e.g., by encoding, interleaving, modulating, etc.). The digital data (e.g., transmit baseband data 244) can be converted to an analog signal by a D / A converter and / or can be a filtered signal (e.g., before and / or after analog conversion) to remove various noise components (e.g., a direct current power component). A frequency up-converter (represented by a mixer / multiplier and a transmit local oscillator (TXLO) in Figure 2 The up-converted signal can be amplified to a power level appropriate for transmission. The resulting signal can be transmitted through a transmit antenna as a transmission signal 234.

[0031] The transceiver 206 can include two or more circuits configured to provide similar functionality, e.g., for processing received signals or transmit signals at different power levels. For example, the transceiver 206 can include a high-power circuit 216 and a low-power circuit 218, both configured to process transmission signals 234 at different corresponding power levels. The low-power circuit 218 can include components / designs that perform the same functions as the high-power circuit 216 but use less power.

[0032] In some implementations, the high-power circuit 216 can include a D / A converter, an analog baseband filter (BBF), a harmonic rejection mixer (HRM), a local oscillator (LO), and / or a high-linearity driver amplifier (DA). The LO of the high-power circuit 216 can include a high-performance voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) with low phase noise capability. Further, the high-linearity DA can be configured with sufficient capacity to provide linear operation (e.g., not saturate the amplifier) for handling high-power or high peak-to-peak signals. In contrast, the low-power circuit 218 can include one or more components with lower performance and power ratings and / or omit one or more components. For example, the first low-power path can be configured to utilize requirements of a particular frequency band (e.g., relaxed emission requirements). Thus, the first low-power path can include a BBF that bypasses optional stages, a normal mixer that bypasses the HRM, an LO with lower power supply voltage and a low-power VCO, and / or a DA that is optimized for low transmission power as compared to the high-power circuit 216. Additionally, for example, the second low-power path can be configured to save power when maximum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is not required, such as for low-order modulation. The second low-power path can include an LO with lower power supply voltage and a low-power VCO and / or a DA that is optimized for lower transmission power as compared to the high-power circuit 216.

[0033] The trade-off in power can negatively impact the final accuracy or signal reliability. As described in detail below, the mobile communication device 200 can be configured to dynamically select and use different power supply circuits depending on real-time environmental / signal factors. For example, the mobile communication device 200 can use the low-power circuit 218 for communication scenarios or conditions that can be less impacted by any reduction in accuracy / reliability, such as for lower interference environments and / or lower throughput requirements. Thus, the mobile communication device 200 can take advantage of the power reduction without increasing error rates, retransmissions, etc.

[0034] The signal processing circuit 208 (e.g., baseband modem / chip) can be configured to process / analyze received baseband data 242 regarding the content of the communication / expected. The signal processing circuit 208 can be configured to evaluate Figure 1 the wireless channel 115 and / or other real-time communication conditions. For example, the signal processing circuit 208 can determine channel estimates (e.g., a description of the variations or impacts provided by the wireless channel 115 on transmitted signals) and / or communication control parameters, such as a modulation profile 252, a transmission profile 254, etc.

[0035] In some embodiments, the signal processing circuit 208 can analyze communications (e.g., control plane messages) that interact with a network controller (e.g., a network device 110, such as a base station or another controller) to determine communication control parameters. The mobile communication device 200 can include a communication analyzer 226 (e.g., a circuit, a software and / or firmware module, or a combination thereof) configured to analyze real-time communication conditions associated with the transmission signal 234. For example, the communication analyzer 226 can analyze portions within the interacted signal, such as a reference portion, a control plane parameter, and / or the like. The network controller can assign and transmit one or more communication control parameters, and / or the transmitting device can select and report one or more communication control parameters.

[0036] The communication control parameters can be derived according to real-time conditions and / or scenarios, and control one or more aspects of the interacted messages / signals according to the conditions / scenarios to meet real-time requirements. For example, a modulation profile 252 can control a modulation scheme or constellation (e.g., 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or binary phase shift keying (BPSK)) used to encode symbols in the interacted signal (e.g., the transmission signal 234). Thus, the modulation profile 252 can correspond to a number of bits per symbol and an associated data rate. Further, a transmission profile 254 can control a frequency band and / or a power setting used to transmit the transmission signal 234. The transmission profile 254 can specify a higher power setting when the initially interacted signal has a weaker strength / power (e.g., when the devices are farther apart). Additionally or alternatively, the transmission profile 254 can specify certain bandwidths that are configured to accommodate other simultaneous communication signals / sessions (e.g., according to coexistence and / or emission requirements).

[0037] The mobile communication device 200 can select an appropriate power level to process the transmission signal 234 based on the analyzed information (e.g., a modulation order and / or a transmission frequency band). For example, the mobile communication device 200 can use the low-power circuit 218 to process the transmission signal 234 when the current modulation scheme matches one of the predetermined schemes. Additionally or alternatively, the mobile communication device 200 can select the low-power circuit 218 when a target data rate of the communication is below a predetermined rate threshold. Further, for example, the mobile communication device 200 can select the low-power circuit 218 when the transmission frequency band matches one of the predetermined frequency bands associated with lower emission requirements, and / or when the transmission power is below a predetermined power threshold. As an illustrative example, the mobile communication device 200 can select the low-power circuit 218 when the transmission frequency band does not match Bl and B13 of a 5G communication protocol (e.g., the transmission frequency band has strict out-of-band emission requirements to prevent interference with other nearby protected frequency bands).

[0038] In some implementations, the communication analyzer 226 may determine modulation profile 252 and / or transmission profile 254 and compare them with corresponding thresholds or conditions. Therefore, the communication analyzer may generate a feedback signal 236 corresponding to circuit selection. The transceiver 206 may receive the feedback signal 236 and select the transmission circuit accordingly. In other implementations, the communication analyzer 226 may determine modulation profile 252 and / or transmission profile 254 and transmit them to the transceiver 206 using the feedback signal 236. In other words, the feedback signal 236 may include modulation profile 252 and / or transmission profile 254 for the current or ongoing communication session. The transceiver 206 may receive the information and compare it with corresponding thresholds or conditions. As a result of the comparison, the transceiver 206 may generate one or more internal selection signals for selecting the transmission signal path. As an illustrative example, the signal processing circuitry 208 (e.g., a baseband chip) may maintain knowledge of the desired transmission output power and modulation order. The maintained metric can be passed to the transceiver 206 via a gain control command in the feedback signal 236.

[0039] Example Transmission Circuitry

[0040] Figures 3A-3B This is a block diagram of an example transmission circuit according to one or more embodiments of the present technology. Figure 3A An example transmission circuit 300 is shown (e.g., Figure 2 (An example of transmission path 214). Transmission circuit 300 may include high-power circuit 216 and Figure 2 One or more examples of the low-power circuit 218, such as a first low-power transmitter 302 and a second low-power transmitter 304. The first low-power transmitter 302 and the second low-power transmitter 304 may include different circuits to provide different performance capacities and corresponding power requirements.

[0041] The transmission circuit 300 may include a D / A converter 312, which is configured to convert the D / A converter into an A / D converter. Figure 2 The digital baseband data 244 is converted into an analog signal for transmission. The transmission circuit 300 may also include a selection circuit 306, controlled by a selection signal 308, to select one of the transmitter circuits (e.g., from the high-power circuit 216, the first low-power transmitter 302, and the second low-power transmitter 304). As described in detail below, the mobile communication device 200 can be based on one or more real-time aspects of the communication environment / conditions, such as... Figure 2 Modulation profile 252 and / or Figure 2 The transmission configuration file 254 generates the selection signal 308.

[0042] In some embodiments, the high-power circuit 216 can include a BBF 314, a high- performance mixer 316, and / or a high-power DA 318 configured to process analog signals for transmission. The BBF 314 can be configured to filter baseband analog signals to remove noise and / or other unwanted signal components. The high-performance mixer 316 can include mixers (e.g., HRMs) configured to remove harmonic interference in the analog signals (e.g., after the BBF 314). For example, the high-performance mixer 316 can include multiple mixers, each driven by a corresponding LO. A subset of the mixer-LO combinations can be configured as HRMs. The high-power DA 318 can be configured or tuned to process / amplify higher power signals.

[0043] The low-power circuits can include different circuits than the high-power circuit 216 and configured to provide lower processing capabilities and consume reduced power. For example, the first low-power transmitter 302 can include circuits configured to reduce power consumption when the transmission band has relaxed transmission requirements, which for example include requirements regarding harmonic components and / or other unintended components (e.g., content-agnostic noise) in the transmitted signals that can act as interference to other bands. In some implementations, the first low-power transmitter 302 can include a low-performance filter 324, a low-performance mixer 326, and / or a low-power DA 328 configured to process analog signals for transmission. In comparison to the high-power circuit 216, the low-performance filter 324 can remove or disable one or more components (e.g., one or more operational amplifiers (op-amps)). The low-performance mixer 326 can include one or more mixers, each with a corresponding LO, without having HRMs. In some embodiments, in comparison to the high-performance mixer 316, the low-performance mixer 326 can include LO components with lower power supply voltage and / or low-power voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs). In comparison to the high-power DA 318, the low-power DA 328 can be configured to process / amplify (e.g., for optimization) low-power signals.

[0044] Further, for example, the second low-power transmitter 304 can include circuits configured to reduce power consumption when maximum performance (e.g., maximum SNR) is not needed, such as for transmitting basic information and / or for transmitting at lower data rates or using corresponding modulation schemes. The second low-power transmitter 304 can include the BBF 314 and the low-power DA 328, as well as a low-power mixer 336. In comparison to the high-performance mixer 316, the low-power mixer 336 can include one or more LO components with lower power supply voltage and / or low-power VCOs. In some embodiments, in contrast to the low-performance mixer 326, the low-power mixer 336 can include HRMs.

[0045] Figure 3B An example transmission circuit 350 is shown (e.g., Figure 2 (An example of transmission path 214). Transmission circuit 350 can be connected to... Figure 3A Different implementations of the transmission circuit 300 are possible. For example, the transmission circuit 350 may include a D / A converter 312 coupled to a configurable BBF 354. The configurable BBF 354 may include one or more selectively operable stages 355 (e.g., one or more op-amps) configured to operate according to a selection signal 308. When the selectively operable stage 355 is activated, the configurable BBF 354 may behave similarly to... Figure 3A The BBF 314 operates. Otherwise, when the selective operability level 355 is deactivated, the configurable BBF 354 can be similar to... Figure 3A The low-performance filter 324 is used for operation.

[0046] Furthermore, the transmission circuitry 350 may include a set of selectable mixers 356, each mixer including a LO component. A mixer-LO pair can be activated according to a selection signal 308. In some embodiments, the selectable set of mixers 356 may include three or more mixer-LO pairs. One or more mixer-LO pairs may include similar... Figure 3A The high-performance mixer 316 has an HRM. Compared to the high-performance mixer, one or more other mixer-LO pairs may include or use basic or non-HRM components (e.g., similar to the low-performance mixer 326), lower supply voltage, and / or low-power VCO 316.

[0047] The selectable mixer group 356 can be selectively coupled to the high-power DA 318 and the low-power DA 328 via the selection circuit 306. Therefore, the mobile communication device 200 can use the selection signal 308 to configure the transmission circuit 350 to perform... Figure 2 One of the high-power circuits 216 or low-power circuits (e.g., Figure 3A The first low-power transmitter 302 and / or Figure 3A The role of the second low-power transmitter 304.

[0048] Control Flow

[0049] Figure 4 This is a flowchart of an example method according to one or more embodiments of the present technology. Method 400 can be used to control the power consumption level associated with transmission signal processing. Method 400 can be used for operation Figure 1 Network equipment 110 Figure 1 Terminal equipment 120 Figure 2the mobile communication device 200, a portion of the above-described device, or a combination thereof. The method 400 can correspond to the generation of the selection signal 308 and Figure 3A the operation of the transmission circuit 300 and / or Figure 3B the transmission circuit 350. The method 400 can correspond to the selection between the power-hungry circuit and the low-power circuit for two or more specific situations.

[0050] At block 402, the mobile communication device 200 can initialize the transmit path 214 to process the transmission signal 234 with the high-power circuit 216. In other words, the mobile communication device 200 can initially, e.g., during the beginning portion of a communication session, use the high-power circuit 216 to process and generate the transmission signal 234. Figure 2

[0051] At block 404, the mobile communication device 200 can determine real-time communication conditions associated with the transmission signal 234. The mobile communication device 200 (through, e.g., the signal processing circuit 208) can determine one or more parameters indicative of the real-time communication environment and / or the current communication setup. For example, the mobile communication device 200 can determine the modulation profile 252 and the transmission profile 254 as described above. Figure 2 Figure 2 Figure 2

[0052] At block 452, the mobile communication device 200 can determine a transmission band associated with the transmission signal 234. For example, the determined real-time transmission conditions can include the transmission profile 254 having a transmission band allocated and / or used for transmitting the transmission signal 234. The network device 110 can determine the transmission band based on analyzing the communication channel conditions, e.g., from channel estimates reported by the terminal device 120 and / or based on other terminal devices in communication with the network device 110. The terminal device 120 can determine the transmission band based on analyzing a predetermined portion of control signals (e.g., control plane signals) from the network device 110.

[0053] At block 454, the mobile communication device 200 can determine a signal power associated with the transmission signal 234. For example, the determined real-time transmission conditions can include the transmission profile 254 having a transmission signal strength allocated and / or used for transmitting the transmission signal 234. The determination process can be similar to determining the transmission band. For example, the network device 110 can determine the transmission signal strength from signal strengths detected by the network device 110 and / or the terminal device 120 (e.g., power of a reference portion or a pilot tone representative of at least a distance separating the communication endpoints). The network device 110 can allocate and communicate the transmission signal strength to the terminal device 120 using a corresponding portion of the control signals.​​​​

[0054] At block 456, the mobile communication device 200 can determine a communication rate associated with the transmission signal 234. In some embodiments, the mobile communication device 200 can determine a communication rate or data rate according to an application and / or a type of data. Alternatively or additionally, the mobile communication device 200 can determine a modulation scheme used to encode the target data in generating the transmission signal 234. The modulation scheme can be determined according to a bit density (e.g., a number of bits per symbol) associated with the modulation scheme. Alternatively or additionally, the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 can communicate the determined modulation scheme used or to be used in generating and decoding the transmission signal 234.

[0055] At block 406, the mobile communication device 200 can generate a digital content signal for transmission. For example, the signal processing circuit 208 can generate the transmission baseband data 244 by encoding and / or rearranging the content data according to a communication protocol (e.g., 4G, 5G, 802.11, NR, and / or a legacy cellular protocol) targeted for processing and sending the transmission signal 234. Figure 2

[0056] At decision block 408, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the determined communication rate to a rate threshold. For example, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the modulation profile 252 to a predetermined set of modulations having a data rate below a predetermined rate threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the target data rate to the predetermined rate threshold. When the target data rate is not less than the threshold and / or when the modulation scheme does not match the predetermined set associated with a lower rate, the mobile communication device 200 can select the high-power circuit 216 as further described below at block 418. In some embodiments, the mobile communication device 200 can use a target SNR for the wireless signal.

[0057] Otherwise (e.g., for a lower target rate), the mobile communication device 200 can select one of the low-power circuits (e.g., the first low-power transmitter 302 or the second low-power transmitter 304) or select a corresponding configuration for the example transmission circuit 350. Figure 3A Figure 3B For example, the mobile communication device 200 can analyze the appropriateness of selecting the low-power circuit 218 when the data rate is below the threshold, when the modulation scheme matches one of the predetermined modulations, and / or when the target SNR is below a corresponding threshold relative to the rate.

[0058] ​​At decision block 410, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the determined power to a power threshold. For example, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the power setting of the transmission profile 254 to a predetermined rate threshold. When the power setting of the transmission signal 234 is not less than the threshold, the mobile communication device 200 can select the high power circuit 216 as further described below at block 418. Otherwise, when the power setting is less than the corresponding threshold and / or when the target rate is less than the corresponding threshold, the mobile communication device 200 can select the low power circuit 218 (e.g., one of the first / second low power transmitters 302 / 304 or the low power configuration of the example transmission circuit 350).

[0059] At decision block 412, the mobile communication device 200 can compare the determined transmission band to a set of predetermined bands associated with low emission requirements. For example, when the transmission band has strict out-of-band emission requirements (e.g., Bl and B13), the mobile communication device 200 can select the first low power transmitter 302 or the corresponding configuration. Otherwise, when the transmission band is predefined as a band associated with less strict (e.g., compared to bands adjacent to protected frequencies, such as Bl and B13) out-of-band emission requirements, the mobile communication device 200 can select the second low power transmitter 304 or the corresponding configuration.

[0060] At blocks 414-418, the mobile communication device 200 can generate a selection signal 308 for selecting the circuit according to the analysis of the signal power, rate, and / or other conditions / settings. At block 414, the mobile communication device 200 can generate a selection signal 308 for selecting the first low power circuit according to the analysis. At block 416, the mobile communication device 200 can generate a selection signal 308 for selecting the second low power circuit according to the analysis. At block 418, the mobile communication device 200 can generate a selection signal 308 for selecting the high power circuit according to the analysis.

[0061] At block 420, the mobile communication device 200 can implement the selection. For example, the mobile communication device 200 can control the selection circuit 306 and / or other optional circuits of Figure 3A and Figure 3B according to the selection signal 308.

[0062] The selection and implementation of the high power circuit 216 can correspond to the implementation of Figure 3A the baseband filter 314, Figure 3A the high performance mixer 316, and / or Figure 3A the high power DA 318. In some embodiments, the high power circuit 216 can correspond to the selection of a configurable baseband filter 354 with a selective operable stage 355 of Figure 3B Figure 3B ​all mixer-LO groupings and / or HRM-LO groupings in the selectable mixers 356, and / or the high-power DAs 318. Thus, the high-power circuit 216 can utilize or tap into sufficient power to meet the drive for higher order modulation, thereby increasing data throughput and meeting the corresponding increased SNR requirements. The high-power circuit 216 can provide a relatively lower transmit for the transmission signal 234 at maximum output power. The high-power circuit 216 can be the default / initial circuit, e.g., at the beginning of a communication session, for processing the transmission signal 234.

[0063] The selection and implementation of the first low-power transmitter 302 can be used to reduce the power consumption of generating the transmission signal 234 when the transmission band has relatively relaxed requirements and / or when the transmit requirements are relaxed as described above. The first low-power transmitter 302 can correspond to implementing a reduced number of features, capacity, precision, granularity, and / or corresponding power consumption levels as compared to the high-power circuit 216, Figure 3A a low-performance filter 324, Figure 3A a low-performance mixer 326, and / or Figure 3A a low-power DA 328. In some embodiments, the first low-power transmitter 302 can correspond to disabling the selective operable stage 355 of the configurable baseband filter 354, disabling a subset of the mixer-LO groupings and / or HRM-LO groupings in the selectable mixers 356, and / or selecting the low-power DA 328 as shown in Figure 3B In some embodiments, the HRM can be disabled to save power if the local oscillator nth harmonic does not produce a mixing result that falls within the protected region. In other words, the power levels in the harmonic interference can be low enough that they can be ignored in consideration of reducing power consumption. In addition, as the transmission power is reduced, the DA operating point can also be lowered to improve efficiency and trade off higher noise and non-linearity.

[0064] The selection and implementation of the second low-power transmitter 304 can be used to reduce the power consumption of generating the transmission signal 234 when the maximum SNR is not required. The second low-power transmitter 304 can correspond to implementing a reduced number of features, capacity, precision, granularity, and / or corresponding power consumption levels as compared to the high-power circuit 216, Figure 3A a low-power mixer 336, and / or a low-power DA 328. In some embodiments, the second low-power transmitter 304 can correspond to enabling / using LOs with lower supply voltage and / or low-power VCOs in the selectable mixers 356 and / or selecting the low-power DA 328. The modulation order can be independent of the transmission power. Thus, the second low-power transmitter 304 can save power when a reduced / slower transmission modulation is required.

[0065] Even within frequency bands with more stringent transmission requirements, mobile communication device 200 can be configured to select / implement low-power circuitry 218. For example, for the B1 band with a 5MHz channel bandwidth, relatively weak transmission may exist within the protected range of 1884.5MHz to 1915.7MHz. Accordingly, mobile communication device 200 can be configured to use low-power circuitry 218 (e.g., a first low-power transmitter 302 or a second low-power transmitter 304) that can be used for a narrower bandwidth.

[0066] Frequency-based applications of the low-power circuit 218 (according to, for example, modulation profile 252 and / or transmit profile) can provide reduced power consumption for the transmit circuitry based on total transmit power, modulation order, and / or frequency band / bandwidth. This reduced power consumption can further provide lower heat dissipation and increased battery life for the corresponding device (e.g., terminal device 120). Furthermore, the aforementioned frequency-based power savings can provide scalability for the future evolution of communication technologies / protocols.

[0067] Example Devices and Systems

[0068] Figures 5-7 Example devices and systems are shown that include or incorporate a variable power transmitter and / or corresponding control circuitry (e.g., Figure 2 Mobile communication devices 200 Figure 3A Transmission circuit 300, Figure 3B (Transmission circuit 350, the above-mentioned part or combination thereof).

[0069] Figure 5 Terminal device 500 according to one or more embodiments of the present technology (e.g., Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an example of terminal device 120. (e.g.) Figure 5 As shown, the terminal device 500 includes a processing unit 510 (e.g., serving as...). Figure 2 Transceiver 206 Figure 2 The signal processing circuitry 208 and / or one or more portions thereof (DSP, CPU, GPU, etc.) and memory 520. The processing unit 510 can be configured to perform functions corresponding to... Figure 4 Method 400 and / or other instructions of the above-described embodiments.

[0070] Figure 6 It is a system chip 600 according to one or more embodiments of the present technology (e.g., Figure 1 Terminal equipment 120 and / or Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of the components within the network device 110. Figure 6The system-on-a-chip 600 includes an input interface 601, an output interface 602, a processor 603, and a memory 604 (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable medium) connectable via internal communication lines, wherein the processor 603 is configured to execute code in the memory 604. The memory 604 may include code corresponding to... Figure 4 The processor 603 can implement method 400 and / or other aspects of the above-described embodiments.

[0071] Figure 7 A communication device 700 according to one or more embodiments of the present technology (e.g., Figure 1 Terminal equipment 120 and / or Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of a network device 110 (an example). The communication device 700 may include a processor 710 and a memory 720. The memory 720 may store program code, and the processor 710 may execute the program code stored in the memory 720. The memory 720 may include components corresponding to... Figure 4 The processor 710 can implement method 400 and / or other aspects of the above embodiments.

[0072] Optionally, the communication device 700 may include a transceiver 730 (e.g., Figure 2 Transceiver 206 Figure 2 (An example of signal processing circuitry 208 and / or one or more portions thereof). Transceiver 730 can be configured (by, for example, hardware circuitry, software code from memory 720, and / or firmware) to implement method 400 and / or other aspects of the above embodiments.

[0073] It should be understood that the processor in the technical embodiments of the present application can be an integrated circuit chip and has a signal processing capability. In the implementation process, the steps of the above method can be realized by hardware integrated logic circuit in the processor or by instructions in the form of software. The processor can be a general processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, and a discrete hardware component. The method, steps and logic block diagram disclosed in the technical embodiments of the present application can be implemented or executed. The general processor can be a microprocessor, or the processor can alternatively be any conventional processor or the like. The steps in the method disclosed in combination with the technical embodiments of the present application can be executed or completed by a decoding processor realized directly by hardware or by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in a random access memory, a flash memory, a read only memory, a programmable read only memory or an electrically erasable programmable memory, a register or other mature storage medium in the art. The storage medium is located in the memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and completes the steps in the above method in combination with its hardware.

[0074] It can be understood that the memory in the technical embodiments of the present application can be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, and can also include a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory can be a read only memory (ROM), a programmable read only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The volatile memory can be a random access memory (RAM) and be used as an external cache. For the purpose of exemplary and non-limiting description, various forms of RAM can be used, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) and direct Rambus random access memory (DR RAM). It should be pointed out that the memory in the system and method described herein is intended to include but not limited to these memories and any other suitable type of memory.

[0075] Example

[0076] Several aspects of the present technology are set forth in the following additional examples:

[0077] 1. A method for operating a communication device, the method comprising:

[0078] determining a power level for transmitting a signal (e.g., a wireless signal) from a communication device;

[0079] determining one or more real-time transmission conditions associated with transmitting the signal; and

[0080] selecting a low-power circuit for processing the signal based on the power level and the one or more real-time transmission conditions, wherein the low-power circuit is configured to process the signal using less power than a high-power circuit.

[0081] 2. The method of example 1, further comprising:

[0082] initially processing the signal using the high-power circuit;

[0083] wherein selecting the low-power circuit comprises switching to the low-power circuit based on the power level and the one or more real-time transmission conditions.

[0084] 3. The method of examples 1-2, wherein,

[0085] the one or more real-time transmission conditions comprise a data rate associated with the signal;

[0086] the low-power circuit is selected when the data rate is below a rate threshold.

[0087] 4. The method of examples 1-3, wherein,

[0088] the one or more real-time transmission conditions comprise a modulation scheme used to data encode the signal;

[0089] the low-power circuit is selected when the modulation scheme matches a scheme within a predetermined set of modulation schemes representative of a data rate below a rate threshold.

[0090] 5. The method of examples 1-4, wherein,

[0091] the one or more real-time transmission conditions comprise a transmission frequency band used to transmit the signal and / or allocated for transmitting the signal;

[0092] the low-power circuit is selected when the transmission frequency band matches a frequency band within a predetermined set of transmission frequency bands representative of less stringent emission requirements compared to at least one other transmission frequency band available for a communication standard associated with the signal.

[0093] 6. The method of examples 1-5, wherein,

[0094] In addition to the high-power circuit, the communication device includes at least two or more low-power circuits, the two or more low-power circuits including different combinations of components specified for different communication conditions;

[0095] Selecting the low-power circuit includes selecting one of the two or more low-power circuits according to the one or more real-time transmission conditions.

[0096] 7. The method of examples 1-6, wherein,

[0097] One of the low-power circuits includes a lower performance baseband filter, a lower performance mixer, a lower performance local oscillator (LO), a lower input voltage source, and / or a lower performance driver amplifier (DA) compared to the high-power circuit;

[0098] Selecting the low-power circuit includes selecting one of the low-power circuits when a transmission band associated with a signal and a predetermined band representing relaxed out-of-band emission requirements match.

[0099] 8. The method of examples 1-7, wherein,

[0100] One of the low-power circuits includes a lower performance local oscillator (LO), a lower input voltage source, and / or a lower performance driver amplifier (DA) compared to the high-power circuit;

[0101] Selecting the low-power circuit includes selecting one of the low-power circuits when a target signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless signal is below a predetermined threshold.

[0102] 9. The method of examples 1-8, wherein,

[0103] The communication device includes a transmission path, the transmission path including:

[0104] A configurable baseband filter configured to generate a filtered analog signal by removing a noise component from a baseband analog signal corresponding to content to be transmitted through the signal, the configurable baseband filter including a selectively activated operational amplifier (op-amp) stage;

[0105] A modulation circuit including two or more groups, each group including a mixer driven by a local oscillator (LO), wherein the two or more groups include:

[0106] A first group having a harmonic rejection mixer (HRM) with a corresponding LO including a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) configured to provide a modulated signal having a phase noise level below a predetermined threshold, and

[0107] a second group having lower performance mixers with corresponding LOs including lower performance oscillators and / or lower input voltage compared to the first group;

[0108] a higher power driver amplifier (DA) configured to linearly amplify signals having a power level above a minimum power threshold;

[0109] a lower power DA configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold; and

[0110] a selection circuit configured to select one of the higher power DA and the lower power DA to process the signals;

[0111] the high power circuit corresponds to

[0112] the configurable baseband filter has a selectively activated op-amp stage in an active state, the modulation circuit has the two or more groups in the active state, and

[0113] the selection circuit is configured to select the higher power DA instead of the lower power DA to process the signals;

[0114] selecting the low power circuit includes at least one of:

[0115] deactivating or bypassing the selectively activated op-amp stage;

[0116] deactivating or bypassing the first group including the HRM;

[0117] operating the selection circuit to select the lower power DA instead of the higher power DA to process the signals.

[0118] 10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon processor instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any of examples 1-10.

[0119] 11. A communication device comprising:

[0120] a processor configured to implement the method of any of examples 1-10; and

[0121] an output circuit (e.g., an antenna group or port) coupled to the processor configured to transmit the signals.

[0122] 12. A communication device comprising:

[0123] a signal processing circuit configured to

[0124] determining a power level for transmitting a signal from a communication device, and

[0125] determining one or more real-time transmission conditions associated with transmitting the signal;

[0126] a transmission path configured to process the signal for transmission,

[0127] wherein the transmission path comprises:

[0128] a high-power circuit configured to process the signal, and

[0129] a low-power circuit configured to process the signal with lower power consumption than the high-power circuit; and

[0130] a selection circuit configured to select between the high-power circuit and the low-power circuit in dependence on the power level and the one or more real-time transmission conditions.

[0131] 13. The communication device of example 12, wherein the selection circuit is configured to select the high-power circuit (1) when the power level meets or exceeds a power threshold and / or (2) when the one or more real-time transmission conditions include an associated data rate that meets or exceeds a rate threshold.

[0132] 14. The communication device of examples 12-13, wherein the selection circuit is configured to select the low-power circuit or a portion thereof (1) when the signal corresponds to a power level that is below a power threshold, (2) when an associated data rate is below a rate threshold, and / or (3) when a transmission frequency of the signal matches a predetermined frequency band that represents relaxed emission requirements relative to other available frequency bands.

[0133] 15. The communication device of examples 12-14, wherein the high-power circuit is configured to generate the signal with higher signal fidelity (e.g., higher likelihood of accurate detection / decoding, smaller tolerances for signal / symbol parameters such as signal amplitude and / or phase, and / or lower out-of-band signal components compared to signals from the low-power circuit) than the low-power circuit, and comprises at least one of:

[0134] an analog baseband filter configured to remove noise components from the signal;

[0135] a harmonic rejection mixer (HRM) comprising a local oscillator (LO),

[0136] wherein the HRM is configured to modulate the signal to a transmission frequency when processing the signal,

[0137] The LO includes a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) configured to facilitate modulation of phase noise below a predetermined threshold; and

[0138] a driver amplifier (DA) configured to linearly amplify signals having a power level above a minimum power threshold.

[0139] 16. The communication device of examples 12-15, wherein,

[0140] The analog baseband filter in the high power circuit includes a set of operational amplifiers (op-amps);

[0141] The low power circuit includes a lower performance baseband filter that includes a number of activated op-amps that is less than the set of op-amps in the analog baseband filter of the high power circuit.

[0142] 17. The communication device of examples 12-16, wherein the low power circuit includes a lower performance mixer that has a lower ability to reduce harmonic frequencies or other out-of-band noise than the HRM.

[0143] 18. The communication device of examples 12-17, wherein the lower performance mixer (1) is configured to use a lower supply voltage than the HRM and / or (2) includes a VCO that uses less power than the VCO in the HRM.

[0144] 19. The communication device of examples 12-18, wherein the low power circuit includes a lower power DA configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold.

[0145] 20. The communication device of examples 12-19, wherein,

[0146] The transmission path includes:

[0147] a configurable baseband filter configured to generate a filtered analog signal by removing noise components from a baseband analog signal corresponding to content to be transmitted through the signal, the configurable baseband filter including selectively activated operational amplifier (op-amp) stages;

[0148] a modulation circuit including:

[0149] a harmonic rejection mixer (HRM),

[0150] a high performance LO having a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) configured to provide a modulated signal having a phase noise level below a predetermined threshold,

[0151] a lower performance mixer having a greater out-of-band noise tolerance than the HRM, and

[0152] a lower performance LO including: (1) a lower performance oscillator having a noise level exceeding a predetermined threshold and / or (2) a lower input voltage than the high performance LO,

[0153] a higher power driver amplifier (DA) configured to linearly amplify signals having a power level above a minimum power threshold;

[0154] a lower power DA configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold; and

[0155] a selection circuit configured to select one of the higher power DA and the lower power DA to process the wireless signal;

[0156] the high power circuit corresponds to

[0157] the configurable baseband filter has a selectively activated op-amp stage in an active state, the modulation circuit has the HRM, the high performance LO, the lower performance mixer, and the lower performance LO in the active state, and

[0158] the selection circuit is configured to select the higher power DA instead of the lower power DA to process the signal;

[0159] the selection of the low power circuit is based on at least one of:

[0160] deactivating or bypassing the selectively activated op-amp stage;

[0161] deactivating or bypassing the HRM and / or the high performance LO;

[0162] operating the selection circuit to select a lower power DA instead of the higher power DA to process the signal;

[0163] the low power circuit includes at least (1) a first low power circuit combination used according to a transmission frequency (e.g., when the transmission frequency matches a predetermined frequency associated with a lower transmission requirement) and (2) a second low power circuit combination used according to a power level (e.g., a power below a power threshold) and / or an associated data rate (e.g., a rate below a rate threshold and / or based on using a modulation scheme associated with a lower rate).

[0164] 21. The communication device of examples 12-20, wherein,

[0165] the low power circuit includes:

[0166] a first low power circuit combination based on the following configuration:

[0167] deactivating or bypassing the selectively activated op-amp stage;

[0168] deactivating or bypassing the HRM and the high performance LO in the modulation circuit; and

[0169] operating the selection circuit to select a lower power DA instead of the higher power DA to process the signal;

[0170] a second low power circuit combination based on the following configuration:

[0171] deactivating or bypassing the high performance LO in the modulation circuit; and

[0172] operating the selection circuit to select a lower power DA instead of the higher power DA to process the signal;

[0173] the selection circuit is configured to:

[0174] select the first low power circuit combination according to a transmission frequency; and

[0175] select the second low power circuit combination according to a power level and / or associated data rate.

[0176] 22. The communication device and / or method of examples 1-21, wherein the circuit is configured to process the signal according to at least one of a fourth generation (4G) cellular standard, a fifth generation (5G) cellular standard, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard 802.11, and a New Radio protocol.

[0177] Summary

[0178] The foregoing detailed description of the examples of the technology disclosed has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the technology disclosed to the precise form disclosed. While the examples of the technology disclosed have been described above with particularity, various modifications can be made to the examples of the technology disclosed as will occur to those with ordinary skill in the art. For example, although processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative implementations can perform routines having steps in a different order, or employ systems having blocks in a different order, and some processes or blocks can be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and / or modified to provide alternative or subcombinations. Each of these processes or blocks can be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks can instead be performed or implemented in parallel, or can be performed at different times. Further, any specific numbers noted herein are merely examples, and alternative implementations can employ different values or ranges.

[0179] From the foregoing detailed description of the examples of the technology disclosed, it can be clearer that the technology disclosed can be implemented in a variety of ways. The described technology may, for example, be implemented in software and / or hardware. The software can comprise computer readable instructions stored on computer readable media such as computer memory, hard disk drives, optical storage media, or other storage devices. The hardware can include, for example, various circuitry components such as logic gates, flip-flops, registers, and the like, which can be implemented in various ways.

[0180] Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the example units and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented by electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled persons can implement the described functions in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

[0181] While certain aspects of the application have been described above with particularity, the applicant contemplates that alternative aspects of the application can be made and executed without departing from the scope of the application. Accordingly, the described aspects of the application are to be understood as coming within the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for operating a communication device, the communication device comprising a low-power circuit and a high-power circuit, the method comprising: Determine the power level used to transmit wireless signals from the communication device; Determine one or more real-time transmission conditions associated with transmitting the wireless signal; as well as The low-power circuitry for processing the wireless signal is selected based on the power level and the one or more real-time transmission conditions, wherein the low-power circuitry is configured to process the wireless signal using less power than the high-power circuitry. The feature is that the one or more real-time transmission conditions include a transmission frequency band for transmitting the wireless signal; The low-power circuit is selected when the transmission band matches a band within a predetermined set of transmission bands, which represent less stringent transmission requirements compared to at least one other transmission band that can be used in communication standards associated with the wireless signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The wireless signal is initially processed using the high-power circuit described above; Selecting the low-power circuit includes switching to the low-power circuit based on the power level and one or more real-time transmission conditions.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The one or more real-time transmission conditions include the data rate associated with the wireless signal; When the data rate is lower than the rate threshold, the low-power circuit is selected.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The one or more real-time transmission conditions include a modulation scheme for data encoding of the wireless signal; The low-power circuit is selected when the modulation scheme matches a scheme within a predetermined modulation set representing a data rate below a rate threshold.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, In addition to the high-power circuit, the communication device also includes at least two or more low-power circuits, which include different combinations of components specified for different communication conditions; Selecting the low-power circuit includes: selecting one of the two or more low-power circuits based on the one or more real-time transmission conditions.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, One of the low-power circuits includes: a baseband filter with lower performance, a mixer with lower performance, a local oscillator (LO) with lower performance, a voltage source with lower input, and / or a driver amplifier (DA) with lower performance compared to the high-power circuit. Selecting the low-power circuit includes selecting one of the low-power circuits when the transmission frequency band associated with the wireless signal matches a predetermined frequency band representing relaxed out-of-band transmission requirements.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein, One of the low-power circuits includes: a local oscillator LO with lower performance, a lower input voltage source, and / or a driver amplifier DA with lower performance compared to the high-power circuit; Selecting the low-power circuit includes selecting one of the low-power circuits when the target signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the wireless signal is lower than a predetermined threshold.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The communication device includes a transmission path, which includes: A configurable baseband filter is configured to generate a filtered analog signal by removing noise components from a baseband analog signal corresponding to the content to be transmitted via the wireless signal. The configurable baseband filter includes a plurality of selectively activated operational amplifier (op-amp) stages. The modulation circuitry comprises two or more groups, each group including a mixer driven by a local oscillator (LO), wherein the two or more groups include: The first group includes a harmonic suppression mixer (HRM), wherein the corresponding LO of the HRM includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) configured to provide a modulation signal with a phase noise level below a predetermined threshold, and The second group has a mixer with lower performance, and the LO corresponding to the mixer includes an oscillator with lower performance and / or a lower input voltage compared to the first group; The high-power drive amplifier DA is configured to linearly amplify signals with power levels above a minimum power threshold; A lower-power DA is configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold; and The selection circuit is configured to select one of the higher-power DA and the lower-power DA to process the wireless signal; The high-power circuit corresponds to The configurable baseband filter has the selectively activated op-amp in an active state. class, The modulation circuit has two or more groups in an active state, and The selection circuit is configured to select the higher-power DA instead of the lower-power DA to process the wireless signal; The selection of the low-power circuit includes at least one of the following: Deactivate or bypass the selectively activated op-amp level; Deactivate or bypass the first group including the HRM; Operate the selection circuit to select the lower power DA instead of the higher power DA. To process the wireless signals.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor instructions stored thereon, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

10. A communication device, comprising: The signal processing circuit is configured as follows: Determine the power level used to transmit wireless signals from the communication device, and Determine one or more real-time transmission conditions associated with transmitting the wireless signal; The transmission path is configured to process the wireless signals for transmission. The transmission path includes: A high-power circuit configured to process the wireless signal, and Configured to process the wireless signal with lower power consumption than the high-power circuitry Power circuits; and The selection circuit is configured to select between the high-power circuit and the low-power circuit based on the power level and one or more real-time transmission conditions. The feature is that the one or more real-time transmission conditions include a transmission frequency band for transmitting the wireless signal; The low-power circuit is selected when the transmission band matches a band within a predetermined set of transmission bands, which represent less stringent transmission requirements compared to at least one other transmission band that can be used in communication standards associated with the wireless signal.

11. The communication device of claim 10, wherein the selection circuit is configured to (1) select the high-power circuit when the power level meets or exceeds a power threshold and / or (2) when one or more real-time transmission conditions include an associated data rate that meets or exceeds a rate threshold.

12. The communication device of claim 10, wherein the selection circuit is configured to select the low-power circuit or a portion thereof when: (1) the wireless signal corresponds to a power level below a power threshold, (2) the associated data rate is below a rate threshold, and / or (3) the transmission frequency of the wireless signal matches a predetermined frequency band representing a relaxed transmission requirement relative to other available frequency bands.

13. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein, The high-power circuit is configured to generate the wireless signal having a higher signal fidelity than the low-power circuit, and includes at least one of the following: An analog baseband filter is configured to remove noise components from the wireless signal; Harmonic suppression mixer (HRM), including local oscillator (LO), The HRM is configured to modulate the signal to a transmission frequency when processing the wireless signal. The LO includes a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), which is configured to promote phase noise below a predetermined level. Modulation with a fixed threshold; as well as The driver amplifier DA is configured to linearly amplify signals with power levels above a minimum power threshold.

14. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein, The analog baseband filter in the high-power circuit includes a set of operational amplifiers (op-amp); The low-power circuit includes a lower-performance baseband filter, which has fewer activated operational amplifiers than the operational amplifier group in the analog baseband filter of the high-power circuit.

15. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein, The low-power circuit includes a lower-performance mixer that is less effective at reducing harmonic frequencies or other out-of-band noise compared to the HRM.

16. The communication device according to claim 15, wherein, The lower-performance mixer (1) is configured to use a power supply voltage lower than that of the HRM and / or (2) includes a VCO with lower power than the VCO in the HRM.

17. The communication device according to claim 13, wherein, The low-power circuit includes a low-power DA configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold.

18. The communication device according to claim 10, wherein, The transmission path includes: A configurable baseband filter is configured to generate a filtered analog signal by removing noise components from a baseband analog signal corresponding to the content to be transmitted via the wireless signal. The configurable baseband filter includes a plurality of selectively activated operational amplifier (op-amp) stages. Modulation circuit, including: Harmonic Reduction Mixer (HRM) A high-performance LO with a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is configured to provide a modulated signal with a phase noise level below a predetermined threshold. A lower-performance mixer with a larger out-of-band noise margin than HRM, and Lower-performance LOs include: (1) oscillators with noise levels exceeding a predetermined threshold and / or (2) input voltages lower than those of the high-performance LOs. The high-power drive amplifier DA is configured to linearly amplify signals with power levels above a minimum power threshold; A lower-power DA is configured to provide linear operation to signals having a power level below the minimum power threshold; and The selection circuit is configured to select one of the higher-power DA and the lower-power DA to process the wireless signal; The high-power circuit corresponds to The configurable baseband filter has a selectively activated op-amp stage in an active state. The modulation circuit has the HRM, the high-performance LO, and the performance in an active state. Lower-performance mixers and lower-performance LOs, and The selection circuit is configured to select the higher-power DA instead of the lower-power DA to process the wireless signal; The selection of the low-power circuit is based on at least one of the following: Deactivate or bypass the selectively activated op-amp level; Deactivate or bypass the HRM and / or the high-performance LO; The selection circuit is operated to select the lower-power DA instead of the higher-power DA to process the wireless signal; The low-power circuitry includes at least (1) a first low-power circuitry combination used according to the transmission frequency and (2) a second low-power circuitry combination used according to the power level and / or the associated data rate.

19. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein, The low-power circuit includes: The first low-power circuit combination is based on the following configuration: Deactivate or bypass the selectively activated op-amp level; Deactivate or bypass the HRM and the high-performance LO in the modulation circuit; and The selection circuit is operated to select the lower-power DA instead of the higher-power DA to process the wireless signal; The second low-power circuit combination is based on the following configuration: Deactivate or bypass the high-performance LO in the modulation circuit; and The selection circuit is operated to select the lower-power DA instead of the higher-power DA to process the wireless signal; The selection circuit is configured as follows: Select the first low-power circuit combination according to the transmission frequency; and The second low-power circuit combination is selected based on the power level and / or the associated data rate.

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